Safety razor having skin-stretching and guiding means



June 30, 1964 E. MEYER 3,138,865

SAFETY RAZOR HAVING SKIN-STRETCHING AND GUIDING MEANS Filed Aug. 11,1961 F762 F763 F/GJ 8, adew g United States Patent 3,133,865 SAFETYRAZOR HAVING SKIN-STRETCHING AND GUIDING MEANS Eugen Meyer, HermannHessestrasse 8, Muhlacker,

Wurttemherg, Germany Filed Aug. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 130,822

Claims priority, application Germany Aug. 13, 1960 Claims. (Cl. 30-34)The present invention relates to a safety razor in which a razor bladeis clamped between a bottom plate and a cover plate.

When shaving with a safety razor, the skin is usually tightened so as toraise up the hairs relative to the blade to permit them to be cut asclosely as possible toward their roots, whereupon the remaining stubswill recede into the released skin. In order to attain this result,numerous designs of safety razors have already been proposed. Thus, forexample, the comblike guard in front of the razor edge of earlier safetyrazors was replaced by a beaded friction bar which, however, was toosmooth and exerted too little friction upon the skin. The same appliesto those safety razors in which the friction bar is provided with agroove containing inserts of an elastic material. These elastic insertsalso easily become porous and shrink and then become severed from theirholding groove. It is also known to provide the friction bars of safetyrazors with recesses which are supposed to operate like suction cups.These recesses become, however, quickly filled with soap and are thenentirely ineffective. In other known types of safety razors, thefriction bars are provided with serrations which extend parallel to theedge of the razor blade and as seen in cross section, enclose an angleof about 90, the bisector of which extends vertically to the basesurface of the friction bar. The serrations are therefore too blunt, thegrooves between them are too wide, and their surface extending in theshaving direction is too much inclined toward the razor edge to effectany satisfactory raising or straightening of the hairs to be cut.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety razor inwhich the friction bar produces a considerably improved skin-tighteningand hair-raising effect so that the hairs will be cut more closely tothe skin. This is attained according to the invention by providing thebottom plate of the razor with a friction bar of a curved shape as seenin cross section, which is divided into a plurality of serrations orteeth of an angle, the bisector of which is inclined away from the razoredge and toward the base of the friction bar so that the serrations havea shape similar to the teeth of a file or saw. The serrations may form aplurality of straight rows of teeth or series of individual teeth,scales, or the like which may be offset relative to each other. Thelongitudinal rows of teeth always extend transverse to the axis of therazor handle and therefore also transverse to the shaving direction ofthe razor. Thus, if the head of the razor extends at right angles to theaxis of the handle, the serrations extend parallel to the edge of therazor blade and if it extends obliquely to the axis of the handle theserrations extend obliquely to the razor edge. In the latter case, thefriction bars may be provided with additional serrations or grooveswhich extend in the shaving direction and exert a guiding effect.

The new manner of dividing the friction surface into serrations has theadvantage that the friction surface exerts a better gripping effectupon, the surface of the skin and thereby tightens the same to a greaterextent than this could be attained with similar safety razors of priordesigns. Of still greater importance, however, is the fact that theserrations or teeth of the friction bar are shaped so as to gripunderneath very inclined and thick 3,138,865 Patented June 30, met

hairs and thereby raise or straighten them upwardly and guide them inthis most suitable cutting position to the edge of the razor blade. Thehairs of a beard are thus cut as closely as possible to their roots andtheir remainder will, when the tension upon the skin is released, pivotback toward the skin surface and recede into the hair root channels. Dueto the general undercut shape of the friction surface, it is evenpossible to feel with the razor where hairs have been missed during apreceding shaving stroke. These hairs will then cause a certainresistance on the friction bar which can be felt by the hand holding therazor. It is thus easy to determine where an aftershave might benecessary. The new safety razor therefore insures a much cleaner andmore perfect shave.

The aforementioned objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more clearly apparent from the following detaileddescription thereof which is to be read with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 shows an enlarged side view ofthe head of a safety razor according to the invention;

FIGURES 2 to 4 show further enlarged side views of friction barsaccording to the invention with serrations which are inclined atdifferent degrees; while FIGURES 5 to 7 show front views of threedifferent safety razors with different arrangements of the serrations onthe friction bars.

In the drawings, the safety razor according to the invention consists ofa bottom plate 1 which is rigidly secured to the handle 2 and a coverplate 3 between which a razor blade 4 is clamped so as to be bent at anarc. At least at the opposite ends of each side of bottom plate 1, webs5 are provided which integrally connect a so-called friction bar 7 tothe bottom plate. This friction bar 7 is separated from the main body ofcover plate 3 by a longitudinal aperture 6 through which the shavingsoap and the hairs which are cut off by the razor edge 4' will beremoved without reaching the surface of friction bar 7. For the samepurpose, webs 5 are also provided underneath the razor edge 4 withslotlike recesses 5'. Each friction bar 7 has a curved outer frictionsurface 8 which is divided by a series of grooves 9 and it extends froma point closely adjacent to and slightly underneath the razor edge 4' tothe lower side of bar 7.

According to the embodiments of the invention as illustrated in FIGURES2 to 4, these separate grooves 9 in the friction surface 8 formintermediate serrations 9', 9", and 9" which have a substantiallytriangular cross section and are separated from each other bycorresponding recesses 10', 10", and 10". The bisector 11 of the angles12', 12", and 12" which are enclosed by the lateral surfaces of theserrations 9, 9", and 9 is tapered away from the razor edge 4' andtoward the root or base surface 13 of serrations 9. The serrations 9have therefore the cross-sectional shape of teeth similar to those of afile or saw which are undercut at different degrees in the shavingdirection in accordance with their different inclinations as shown, forexample, in FIGURES 2 to 4. In place of the continuous straightserrations 9 it is also possible to provide them in the form of teeth,scales, or the like which are offset relative to each other and the termserrations as used herein and in the appended claims is intended toencompass such constructions. The pitch of the teeth is preferably madein accordance with the thickness of the hairs to be cut so as not toinjure or irritate the skin. For the same purpose it may also beadvisable slightly to chamfer the edges or points of the serrations. Asillustrated in FIGURES 2 to 4, the angles which are enclosed by theserrations 9, 9", and 9 may be of different sizes and their bisectorsmay be more or less inclined so that in shaving a definite gripping orunder-reaching effect will be exerted upon the hairs of the beard so asto raise or straighten them up from the skin.

In a razor as illustrated in FIGURE 5, in which the entire razor headextends at right angles to the axis of the handle 2, the longitudinalrows of serrations or teeth 9, 9", 9 extends in the conventional mannerin a direction parallel to the razor edge 4' and therefore transverse tothe shaving direction. If the razor is provided with an obliquelyinclined head and blade as illustrated in FIG- URES 6 and 7, the rows ofserrations 9 forming the friction surface 8 likewise extend transverseto the shaving direction and therefore at an oblique angle to the razoredge 4. The friction surface 8 may in this case be provided withadditional serrations or grooves 14, as shown in FIGURE 7, which crossthe longitudinal serrations 9 and extend parallel to the axis of thehandle 2. These serrations or grooves 14 may be provided for guiding therazor in the normal shaving direction so as to prevent it from slidingin the inclined direction of the razor edge 4' which might lead to cutsin the skin.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments, but iscapable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a safety razor having a handle and a head comprising a guardmember adapted to support a razor blade and a cover member therefor,said members being adapted to clamp said razor blade therebetween, theimprovement consisting essentially of an improved guard member havingmeans for stretching the skin and raising the hair to be shaved andmeans for guiding the razor in the normal shaving direction, said guardmember comprising a bottom plate, a friction bar, said friction barbeing disposed in front of the edge of said razor blade with the uppersurface thereof with respect to said blade being arranged immediatelybelow the plane formed by an imaginary extension of said razor bladeedge, and web means rigidly connecting said friction bar to said bottomplate, said friction bar forming said means for stretching said skin andraising said hair and having approximately triangular shapedlongitudinal serrations in said upper surface forming teeth similar tothose on a file or saw, said teeth having flanks averted from saidimaginary plane and having a maximum angle of 90 relative to the base ofsaid bar, said serrations extending approximately perpendicular to saidnormal shaving direction, said means for guiding the razor comprisingadditional serrations in said friction bar extending essentiallyparallel to said normal shaving direction.

2. In a safety razor having a handle and a head comprising a guardmember adapted to support a razor blade and a cover member therefor,said members being adapted to clamp said razor blade therebetween, theimprovement consisting essentially of an improved guard member havingmeans for stretching the skin and raising the hair to be shaved, andmeans for guiding the razor in the normal shaving direction, said guardmember comprising a bottom plate, a friction bar, said friction barbeing separated from said bottom plate by a longitudinal aperturethrough which cut hairs are adapted to pass, said friction bar beingdisposed in front of the edge of said razor blade with the upper surfacethereof with respect to said blade being arranged immediately below theplane formed by an imaginary extension of said razor blade edge, and webmeans rigidly connecting said friction bar to said bottom plate, saidfriction bar forming said means for stretching said skin and raisingsaid hair and having approximately triangular shaped longitudinalserrations in said upper surface forming teeth similar to those on afile or saw, said teeth having flanks averted from said imaginary planeand having a maximum angle of 90 relative to the base of said bar, theplane bisecting the angle at the point of each said tooth extendingobliquely and outwardly with respect to said razor blade edge, saidserrations extending approximately parallel to each other andperpendicular to said normal shaving direction, said means for guidingthe razor comprising additional serrations in said friction barextending essentially parallel to said normal shaving direction.

3. A safety razor as defined in claim 2, wherein said head is secured tosaid handle at an angle to the axis thereof.

4. In a safety razor having a handle and a head comprising a guardmember adapted to support a razor blade and a cover member therefor,said members being adapted to clamp said razor blade therebetween, theimprovement consisting essentially of an improved guard member havingmeans for stretching the skin and raising the hair to be shaved, saidguard member comprising a bottom plate, a friction bar, said frictionbar being separated from said bottom plate by a longitudinal aperturethrough which cut hairs are adapted to pass, said friction bar beingdisposed in front of the edge of said razor blade with the upper surfacethereof with respect to said blade being arranged immediately below theplane formed by an imaginary extension of said razor blade edge, and webmeans rigidly connecting said friction bar to said bottom plate, saidfriction bar forming said means for stretching said skin and raisingsaid hair and having approximately triangular shaped longitudinalcontinuous parallel teeth in said upper surface similar to those on afile or saw, said teeth having front and rear flanks, said front flanksfacing in the normal direction of the shaving and being more steeplyinclined than said rear flanks, and said teeth extending approximatelyperpendicular to the axis of said handle.

5. In a safety razor having a handle and a head comprising a guardmember adapted to support a razor blade and a cover member thereof, saidmembers being adapted to clamp said razor blade therebetween, theimprovement consisting essentially of an improved guard member havingmeans for stretching the skin and raising the hair to be shaved, andmeans for guiding the razor in the normal shaving direction, said guardmember comprising a bottom plate, a friction bar, said friction barbeing separated from said bottom plate by a longitudinal aperturethrough which cut hairs are adapted to pass, said friction bar beingdisposed in front of the edge of said razor blade with the upper surfacethereof with respect to said blade being arranged immediately below theplane formed by an imaginary extension of said razor blade edge, and webmeans rigidly connecting said friction bar to said bottom plate, saidweb means including slot-like recesses underneath said razor blade edge,said friction bar forming said means for stretching said skin andraising said hair and having approximately triangular shapedlongitudinal serrations in said upper surface forming teeth similar tothose on a file or saw, said teeth having flanks averted from saidimaginary plane and having a maximum angle of relative to the base ofsaid bar, the plane bisecting the angle at the point of each said toothextending obliquely and outwardly with respect to said razor blade edge,said serrations extending approximately parallel to each other andperpendicular to said normal shaving direction, said means for guidingthe razor comprising additional serrations in said friction barextending essentially parallel to said normal shaving direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,280Muros Apr. 1, 1952 ,769,233 Duke Nov. 6, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 920,111Germany NOV. 11, 1954

1. IN A SAFETY RAZOR HAVING A HANDLE AND A HEAD COMPRISING A GUARDMEMBER ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A RAZOR BLADE AND A COVER MEMBER THEREFOR,SAID MEMBERS BEING ADAPTED TO CLAMP SAID RAZOR BLADE THEREBETWEEN, THEIMPROVEMENT CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF AN IMPROVED GUARD MEMBER HAVINGMEANS FOR STRETCHING THE SKIN AND RAISING THE HAIR TO BE SHAVED ANDMEANS FOR GUIDING THE RAZOR IN THE NORMAL SHAVING DIRECTION, SAID GUARDMEMBER COMPRISING A BOTTOM PLATE, A FRICTION BAR, SAID FRICTION BARBEING DISPOSED IN FRONT OF THE EDGE OF SAID RAZOR BLADE WITH THE UPPERSURFACE THEREOF WITH RESPECT TO SAID BLADE BEING ARRANGED IMMEDIATELYBELOW THE PLANE FORMED BY AN IMAGINARY EXTENSION OF SAID RAZOR BLADEEDGE, AND WEB MEANS RIGIDLY CONNECTING SAID FRICTION BAR TO SAID BOTTOMPLATE, SAID FRICTION BAR FORMING SAID MEANS FOR STRETCHING SAID SKIN ANDRAISING SAID HAIR AND HAVING APPROXIMATELY TRIANGULAR SHAPEDLONGITUDINAL SERRATIONS IN SAID UPPER SURFACE FORMING TEETH SIMILAR TOTHOSE ON A FILE OR SAW, SAID TEETH HAVING FLANKS AVERTED FROM SAIDIMAGINARY PLANE AND HAVING A MAXIMUM ANGLE OF 90* RELATIVE TO THE BASEOF SAID BAR, SAID SERRATIONS EXTENDING APPROXIMATELY PERPENDICULAR TOSAID NORMAL SHAVING DIRECTION, SAID MEANS FOR GUIDING THE RAZORCOMPRISING ADDITIONAL SERRATIONS IN SAID FRICTION BAR EXTENDINGESSENTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID NORMAL SHAVING DIRECTION.